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For Immediate Release

Stop the Coal Burglers

LONDON - Bangladeshi community and transnational campaigners against the development of coal mines in the Phulbari region of Bangladesh are protesting at the annual meeting of London based company GCM resources. The coal company plan to start mining in Phulbari and build a 6000 MW power plant.

“If the mine is built, it would lead to the forced-displacement of up to 230, 000 people over the 36 year life cycle of the project. It will increase poverty, water pollution and will plunder 14,600 hectares of Bangladesh’s most fertile and productive agricultural land in the region, causing a crisis of food production. It will have a devastating impact on the people and the environment. In return Bangladesh govt would gain nothing but economic exploitation”, stated Dr Rumana Hashem of Phulbari Solidarity Group.

Friday’s colourful and vibrant protest addresses these issues. Activists plan to disrupt the the AGM by occupying the front entrance from 9am for three hours. They will be playing drums and sing christmas carols “we wish GCM, you stop burgle in Phulbari” outside the AGM, protestors will also be Inside the meeting and will read out a response from the communities from Phulbari signed by 50+ community leaders in the region.

Phulbari Solidarity Group is a transnational activist group which exists to support and represent the communities located within the Phulbari region of Bangladesh in opposing the plans for a large-scale open-cast mine in the region.

“Currently Bangladesh produces very little of its electricity from coal and whilst many other countries in the world are looking to transitioning away from coal, the Bangladesh government is planning to massively expand energy production through coal. “ We have published an alternative plan for power generation that demonstrates there is no need to take disastrous path of coal mining and coal power plants to meet power demand in Bangladesh”. Akhter S Khan, NCBD (National Committee to Protect Oil Gas Mineral, Resources Power and Ports, Bangladesh)

350.org is working with organisations across the globe to stop the development of fossil fuel infrastructure.

“The construction of any new coal power plant is inconceivable given the findings of the IPCC report released in October 2018.. Every ton of coal burned makes an immediate contribution to the quantity of CO2 in the atmosphere causing long term and irreversible climate change.We need to keep fossil fuels in the ground now to ensure that we stay below 1,5 degrees in order to avoid catastrophic environmental breakdown. ”

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350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet. The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth. But solutions exist. All around the world, a movement is building to take on the climate crisis, to get humanity out of the danger zone and below 350. This movement is massive, it is diverse, and it is visionary. We are activists, scholars, and scientists. We are leaders in our businesses, our churches, our governments, and our schools. We are clean energy advocates, forward-thinking politicians, and fearless revolutionaries. And we are united around the world, driven to make our planet livable for all who come after us.

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A belated, heartfelt happy birthday to Harvey Milk, assassinated in 1978 for daring to come out of the closet, be himself and insist on his rights, who would have turned 89 this week. On Harvey Milk Day, California passed a resolution honoring his "critical role in creating the modern LGBT movement." From one ally: "He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it." These dark days, his message resonates more than ever: "You stand up and fight."

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